Now that we know there's a two-part GM repertoire on the French coming, it's no longer a big deal whether other books cover enough minor lines. It will still be difficult to decide which new french books to buy, though.

Do we know the following for certain (sorry been away for a bit):

1) John Watson is definitely bringing out a 4th edition?
2) Do we know when?
3) Do we know who will be publishing it?

Thanks in advance to the up-to-date responders here.

Watson's book was never meant to be encyclopedic. He knows his audience well. A 2-3 volume book on the French just isn't what Watson's Play the French is about. He will likely keep the 4th edition to under 300 pages, and probably under 240 pages.

[quote author=732B2B2321242B2B120 link=1265959700/46#46 date=1330976824]Also if too many pages are devoted to minor lines, the audience rated above 2300 will probably be disappointed. If the publishing company is trying to advance the theory especially at the highest levels, then it would probably be in their best interests to dedicate more pages to the main lines. Unless Topalov starts playing 2. b3 of course...[/quote]

Readers of +2300 is probably no more than 1-5% of the book buyers. 

By the way, Topalov already plays 2.b3 - as in 1.d4 f5 2.b3 ;)

Quote:


Well, it's from 2006 and other books on the French since then has hardly mentioned 2.b3... Though I might make an update on it, as I just noticed that it's found some more strong followers in the last few years. Anyway, it could be fun to see what's new nowadays.

Given the current flood of new books on the French, it should be worthwhile with a book dedicated to all the non-MLs, everything from ML avoidance like 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qd3/a3/Nge2 & 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Qh5 etc etc, all the way to 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 and on to 2.f4, 2.Qe2, 2.c4 etc - if done well, it surely would be a book cherished by most 1...e6ers and some 1.e4ers, and likely to be reprinted over and over - while the books concentrating on the MLs get 'outdated'  quicker and quicker as the flood continues - though I'd suppose 80-90% of the moves/variations given would be the same from new book to newer book...

[quote author=336B6B6361646B6B520 link=1265959700/36#36 date=1325019819][quote author=5B5E595758445D514255300 link=1265959700/32#32 date=1325001927]There's a very wise sentence on Boris Avrukhs great books (GM-Repertoire 1.d4): 'Tired of bad positions? Try the main lines!'

So I wonder why so many people here are calling for a treatment of offbeat-lines in a forthcoming "play-the-french"-edition. The strength (and partly existence) of those lines lies in the lack of treatment in books by qualified authors IMHO. 
I'm pretty sure that 2.f4 would not survive an in-depth-analysis by Watson, and the fate of 2.b3 would likely be something like "the best white can hope for is equality". 

[/quote]

Exactly--I do not understand why people play sidelines like that, unless they deliberately choose to obtain a worse position out of the opening and frustrate their opponent by not losing in the first 20 moves. If the book is to cater to 2200+ and titled players as well, seeing heavy analysis on a minor sideline such as 2. f4, eschewing critical analyses of the Main Lines such as the Winawer would not be favourable. Coverage of the King's Indian Attack is understandable, but fifteen pages devoted to 2. f4 is not.[/quote]

Those "qualified authors" often like to brush away White's options with a few simple lines and a "better for Black verdict", usually ignoring White's best play and setting up their readers for a few nasty surprises eventually.

With best play 2.b3!? may indeed lead to 'equality', but it's the kind of equality seen in the King's Gambit not the QGD. 

Given that the side who plays a sideline often has much more experience of handling the resulting middlegames than the surprised opponent armed with a few lines he's half forgotten already - it would make very good sense for a repertoire book to give good coverage of good responses to sidelines and surprise weapons - after all, the theory of minor variations are less likely to change, while those extra pages on the Winawer or Tarrasch would age a lot sooner.